Experience great value and dis­cover some­thing new with a visit to Chicago this Fourth of July week­end. Celebrate the summer’s biggest hol­i­day by vis­it­ing lake­front beaches, enjoy­ing mag­nif­i­cent fire­works on the lake­front, expe­ri­enc­ing the Taste of Chicago or attend­ing a Major League base­ball game. Learn about Chicago’s exquis­ite cui­sine, incred­i­ble sights, and afford­able options for a fun-filled week­end get­away on a budget.

The Midwest’s largest zipline tour, Ozone Zipline Adventures, reopens for the sea­son on April 1. Much like zipline tours in exotic des­ti­na­tions, Ozone Zipline Adventures is an eco-adventure that com­bines the thrills of fly­ing through the tree­tops at heights of 200 feet above the val­ley floor, with out­door recre­ation, envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion and his­tor­i­cal awareness.

This sum­mer, expe­ri­ence the excite­ment of Wisconsin first­hand by enter­ing the “Miles of Fun” Giveaway. The give­away launched June 15, 2010, with help from Wisconsin’s own Dr. Miles Feldspar, archae­ol­o­gist and sea­soned trav­eler. Miles will be dig­ging up and giv­ing away valu­able prizes includ­ing Wisconsin get­away pack­ages, tick­ets to Wisconsin events and gas cards through Sept. 5, 2010.

When Confederate General Sterling Price marched 12,000 troops into what became known as the Battle of Westport, he had no idea the ground he was cov­er­ing would some­day be among the most-visited parts of mod­ern day-Kansas City.

But those of us 156 years removed from the “Gettysburg of the West” can dou­bly enjoy retrac­ing the steps of those who fought in the October 1864 skir­mish by not only reliv­ing his­tory, but also by expe­ri­enc­ing some of Kansas City’s most pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tion neigh­bor­hoods along the Battle of Westport dri­ving tour.

This sum­mer, the Chicago Greeter pro­gram invites locals to explore a new neigh­bor­hood or Chicago tra­di­tion with a Chicago Greeter. From June 1 – July 31, Chicagoans can cel­e­brate “stay­ca­tion months” by reg­is­ter­ing for a free, cus­tomized Greeter visit. Normally avail­able only to out-of-town vis­i­tors, the Greeter ser­vice will be offered to Chicago res­i­dents exclu­sively dur­ing the months of June and July.